 I’ve been exploring the ways bears intersect with spectacle—how they are displayed, controlled, and transformed into performers. This digital drawing of a bear on a circus high-wire was created in Illustrator as part of that research.Once the drawing was complete, I began considering how to present it. I wanted to introduce a sense of tension by framing elements of the image—restricting the space around the bear without confining the bear itself. Below is a mock-up of the concept I developed.  Because I work primarily in vectors, it felt natural to translate the bear portion of the drawing into a cut-out using black vinyl. The crisp, clean lines of the vinyl echoed the precision of the digital illustration, while the matte black surface added a new layer of visual and conceptual weight to the bear’s silhouette. Below are some in-progress images. I ended up cutting the bear three times—the blade kept dragging through the image, forcing me to simplify the design. Reducing the detail allowed the machine to render the form more cleanly. I also shifted direction with the rope, opting to hand-cut the negative space in the vinyl to make placement easier. The install went much more smoothly than expected. This piece, along with several others from my ongoing body of work, was featured in the Inspiring Imagination: Educators’ Art Collective exhibition at the UNT Paul Voertman Gallery. Curated by Francisco Araujo and Yuni Lee, the show highlighted the creative practices of Lead Instructors and full-time faculty in the Foundations program at the University of North Texas.  
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 Hey everyone!
I wanted to invite you all to a special event happening next Thursday, November 7th, at 3:00 PM in Willis Library, Room 443. I'll be presenting my 2024 UNT Special Collections Research Fellowship project, Extraterrestrial Custodians: Reimagining Conservation Through Speculative Fiction. My fellow Research Fellow, Christine Adame, will also be presenting her project, Ranchera Futurism. This is a great opportunity to see what we’ve been working on, and I’d love to have your support! Hope to see you there! Meredith  Spoke to Nick Bontrager’s Professional Practices class (TCU) about my studio practice and what it’s like to work in a gallery. It was a ton of fun sharing all I’ve learned over the past year!
Last Friday night I attended Critique night at Sunset Studios, a semi frequent get together where artists bring finished and unfinished work to discuss with art peers. This was helpful and fun! I don’t miss the stress of grad school but I do miss talking about my work with other artists and seeing what they’ve made. Thank you Sunset Studios for your generous gift of a space and time to talk about our work. Looking forward to the next meet up. 😆 http://www.sunsetartstudios.com/ Sketch from a dream Duane (my bf) had a while back. This is from a tracing paper demo where I showed my class how to alter a sketch and transfer it.
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